EDITION: June - August 2014

Energy medicine

Text: Jerry Brownstein

A recent international medical conference provided strong proof that the acceptance of Energy Medicine by conventional doctors has reached a critical turning point. The overall theme at the annual meeting of the Institute of Functional Medicine was Illuminating the Energy Spectrum, and it featured workshops in a vast array of different energy techniques: Reiki, Reconnection, Quantum Touch, Eden Energy Medicine and many more. This would have been unimaginable even just a few years ago, and it shows how rapidly these new ways of healing are making their way into the mainstream of modern medicine. Dr. Norman Shealy, a world renowned neurosurgeon and psychiatrist who has been at the forefront of this trend, sums it up this way: “Energy Medicine is the future of all medicine”.

So what is Energy Medicine and how will its acceptance change our lives? There are over 60 types energy healing techniques – some hands-on, others hands-off. All of them are based on the knowledge that changes in the body’s energy field have a great affect on our health and well being. The human energy field – also known as the biofield – is comprised of energy pathways (meridians) and energy centers (chakras). This energetic system corresponds to the various parts of our denser physical body: nerve centers, endocrine glands, internal organs, the circulatory system, etc… When our energies become blocked or out of rhythm due to emotional stress or physical trauma it causes problems in the related areas of the physical body. We experience symptoms of dis-ease… our immune system gets weaker… we are more susceptible to viruses and infections… our emotions become negative and depressed. An energy medicine practitioner is trained to find these blockages and then apply treatments that are specifically designed to harmonize the energy flows and restore them to a healthy balance.

One of the speakers at the recent medical conference was Donna Eden, a pioneer in this field, and the founder of Eden Energy Medicine. She pointed out that the growing acceptance of Energy Medicine is particularly important in today’s world. According to Ms Eden, “Our bodies have not had enough time to adapt to the rapid changes in our lifestyles that have created the stresses of modern life – including exposure to the electromagnetic waves produced by the new technologies. Energy Medicine teaches people techniques which restore their energies that have become weak, disturbed or unbalanced.”

Western medicine has been slow to accept that these subtle energies can be used for healing, but other cultures have been working with them for centuries. Indigenous tribal healers, the Ayurveda system of India, and traditional Chinese medicine all work directly with the body as an energy system. One of the first of these traditional healing methods to be accepted in the West was acupuncture which uses small needles to stimulate specific areas on the skin called acupoints. There are at least 360 of these points located along your energy meridians, and when activated they send healing energy to the affected area. For a long time acupuncture was scoffed at by conventional Western medicine, but after many years of successful treatments, and numerous scientific studies, it is finally being accepted. This gradual progression toward a more widespread approval is similar to what is happening now with other methods of energy healing.

The search to find a scientific basis for Energy Medicine has been the subject of many studies, and that effort has finally reached a tipping point. Dr. James Oschman in his book, “Energy Medicine: The Scientific Basis”, says that there is now enough high-quality research in leading peer-reviewed biomedical journals to convince a growing number of conventional doctors that complementary and alternative therapies are real medicine. Dr. Oschman sees a bright future for energy healing: “When I review the history of medicine, there are periods in which things stay pretty much the same, and then there are great breakthroughs. I think that with the advent of Energy Medicine, another milestone is upon us.”

Your body is a miracle. It is comprised of over 50 trillion cells which work together tirelessly every minute of the day performing the countless complex tasks that keep you alive and well. This cosmic dance is beautifully designed to maintain optimum health and overcome any form of illness. The goal of Energy Medicine is to enhance this natural process by awakening the powerful healing qualities that are inherent in your body’s energy flows. Our current system of health care is focused primarily on disease management and the treatment of symptoms on a purely physical level. As alternative therapies continue to gain more acceptance we will see the emergence of a new model of healing that skillfully blends the best technological advances with an understanding of the body’s energy systems. This integrated approach will shift the focus of modern medicine away from the treatment of symptoms, and toward the promotion of natural health and well being. •